Loading apparatus for cars.



' No. 746,252. PATENTED D50. a, 1903 R.BAGGALEY.

LOADING APPARATUS FOR CARS.- APPLICATION FILED APR. 23, 1903.

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o. 746,252.. PATENTED DEG.8,1903. R. BAGGALEY.

LOADING APPARATUS FOR CARS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 2a. 1903.

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No. 746,252. A 'PATENTED DEC. 8, 1903. R. BAGGALEYJ LOADING APPARATUS FOR CARS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 23, 1903.

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wn'usssss I I mvsm'ok sylvania, have invented a new and useful Patented December 8, 1903.

PATENT Orrrcn.

RALPH BAGGALEY, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

LOADING APPARATUS FOR CARS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 746,252, dated December 8, 1903. Application filed April 23, 19 03. Serial No. 153,943. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, RALPH BAGGALEY', of Pittsburg, Allegheny county, State of Penn- Loading Apparatus for Cars, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact descrip-v tion, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of a loading apparatus,showin g the counting device removed from the delivery-arms upon the right-hand side of the conveyor, the body of the car be:

My invention relates to a loading apparatus for receiving pigs of copper and other like articles from a storage-warehouse or other source of supply and delivers them for shipment into boxcars or other vehicles without the necessity of employing manual labor.

This loading apparatus is preferably a part of a complete system for treating copper or other ores and storing and handling the same when cast into pigs or like articles, although it may be used independently thereof to advantage, since by its use manual labor 'is practically dispensed with and the pigs or other articles are evenly and automatically distributed upon the floor of the car or other vehicle.

The pigs of refined copper after having been cast are weighed, marked, and stored in suitable racks of anautomatic warehousing-machine, beneath which runs a conveyor, upon which the pigs or other articles are deposited and by which they are carried to the loading apparatus which forms the subjectmatter of this application. As each pig is delivered to the loading-machine it actuates mechanism by which, when the requisite number of pigs have been received and loaded, an alarm will be sounded.

In orderto enablethe loading device to be removed so as to permit the cars or other ve hicles to be brought into position to be loaded or removed when loaded, I prefer to make are preferably made to fold against the side of the frame, so as to enter a car-door when a box-car is to be loaded and to be extended in either of two opposite directions when in use.

7 The distributing-arms are provided with counting devices by which the location upon the car-floor of the several piles of pigs is determined, the arrangement preferably being such that twelve piles of twenty-five pigseaoh are distributed evenly upon the car-floor in a consignment of three hundred pigs. The distribution is effected by the passage of the pigs or other articles which engage the mechanism of the counting'devices in a manner more full described below.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, Figs. 2 and 3, 2 represents the frame of the apparatus mounted upon wheels 3, which run upon rails 4. At the points where it is desired to load the cars or other vehicles a pivoted track-section 5 is placed, which is arranged to stand in an upright position to allow a car to be brought into position, but which is lowered into the position shown in Fig. 2 when the loading apparatus is in position to distribute the metal pigs upon the car-floor. Wheel-guards 6 6, Fig. 3, are secured to the pivoted track-section to hold the wheels 3 upon the rails while the pigs are being distributed. The pigs are preferably delivered at somewhat of an elevation to the upper branch of the conveyor 7 from a chute 8 and are moved along a'p atform 9 by the cross bars 10 of the conveyor, which is driven, when in loading position, by a suitable gear connection ll. (Shown by full lines in Fig. 1 and by-dotted lines in Fig. 2. The con veyer passes around sprocket-wheels and guiding-sheaves 12, 13, 14, and 15, supported from the frame 2 by suitablebrackets. The platform 9, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, is provided with three hinged sections 16 17 18, constituting doors, which communicate with chutes 16 17 18. Each of these hinged sections is supported at its free end byfihgers 19, each of which is operated by an arm 20,

articles to the delivery-arms, and the arms TOO having a link connection 21 with an arm 22, which is actuated by a finger 23, engaged by a pin or lug on a counting-wheel 25. This wheel is preferably provided with two hundred and twenty-fiveratchet'teeth. A pawl 26 engages the ratchet-teeth, and as each pig or other article passes the arm 28 it is depressed, and the ratchet-wheel is moved the space of one tooth for each time it is depressed, the pawl being actuated by an arm 28 upon the same shaft as the arm 27. A spring 29 returns the pawl into position to engage another tooth.

Upon both sides of the conveyer and supported by the frame 2 of the apparatus, Fig. 3, are distributing-arms 30, 31, 32, and 33, the arms 30 and 32 being upon one side of the conveyer and the arms 31 and 33 being upon the opposite side of the platform 9 and conveyer. These arms are preferably hinged at 34, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, and are capable of being folded against the side of the frame, so as to enter the door of an ordinary box-car, and can be extended in opposite directions,so as to distribute the pigs or other articles upon all parts of the car-floor. They are also inclined somewhat, so that the pigs will slide by gravity toward their open outer ends. For this purpose an tifriction-rollers 35 may be provided to assist the sliding of the pigs. The arms 31, 32, and 33 when in their extended position communicate with the chutes 161718', but the arm 30 communicates with a chute 30, which differs from the chutes just mentioned in that the platform 9 has an opening, beneath which this chute lies. This chute 30' is the outermost one, and the pigs falldirectly into it and then move endwise down the arm 30, as shown in Fig. 3. Each distributing-arm has a counting mechanism which is actuated by the pig as it moves along the arm.

An arm 36 is mounted on a rock-shaft 37, which is provided with an arm 38, having a rod 39, which is supported by a guide 40, and the end of the rod 39 is provided with a tooth 4l,which engages the ratchet-teeth of a Wheel 42, mounted upon a shaft 43. A pin or projection 44 engages at proper intervals at finger 45, carried by a shaft 46, which is also provided with a hook 47, engaging a pin or rod 48, secured to links 49 in such a manner as to uphold them when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 3-2'. 6., when the pigs are being discharged over the end of the arm. Links 50 depend from the free end of the links 49, which in turn are connected to the doors 51 and until released by the hook 46 remain closed. The arm 30 is also provided with a second door52 near the inner end of the arm, and when twenty-five pigs have passed over the end of the arm the counting mechanism will release the hook 46 and the next twentyfive pigs will pass through the opening of the door 51, and when twenty five pigs have passed through this opening the next twenty- Iive pigs will pass through the door 52. When the seventy-five pigs have thus been distributed in three equal piles from the outer end of the car toward the center, the toothed wheel 25, which has moved seventy-five teeth, actuates the mechanism by which the pivoted section 16 is supported and drops it, so that the next seventy-five pigs are discharged toward the opposite end of the car, passing out along arm 31 in like manner as just described with reference to arm 30, this arm being provided with similar door and counting mechanism. The ratchet'wheel 25 next releases the hinged section 17, which causes the next series of seventy-five pigs to be distributed by the arm 32, and finally it releases the support for the hinged section 18, which makes the final distribution of seventy-five pigs by means of the arm 33, thus completing a consignment of three hundred pigs, which is the usual carload. This distribution of the pigs uniformly and automatically upon the floor of the car or vehicle is accomplished in a very effective manner by the use of my apparatus. It does away with the necessity of employing manual labor and accomplishes the work in a much shorter time than has heretofore been possible. The pivoted sections 16 17 18 and the doors 51 and 52 having been dropped are reset by hand; but it is obvious that this operation may be made automatic.

The advantages of my invention will be apparent to those familiar with the diificulties experienced in the handling of metal pigs and like articles, since by its use time and labor are saved, and the device being portable may be used at more than one portion of the plant and when not in use may be moved out of the way.

Variations may be made in the construction of the device by the skilled mechanic without departing from my invention.

I claim 1. A loading apparatus for cars comprising a frame or support, a distributingarm or arms carried thereby, a conveyer on said frame arranged to deliver articles to the distributing arm or arms, and means for discharging articles at an intermediate part of the arm upon the car-floor; substantially as described.

2. A loading apparatus for cars comprising a frame or support, oppositely-extending distributing-arms carried thereby, a conveyer arranged to deliver articles to said arms, and means for discharging the same at an intermediate part of the arm upon the car-floor; substanitally as described.

3. A loading apparatus for cars comprising a frame or support, oppositely-extending distributing-arms carried thereby, a conveyer arranged to deliver articles to said arms, and means for discharging the same at various parts of the distributing-arms; substantially as described.

4. A loading apparatus for cars, comprising a platform, a conveyor adapted to move arti cles along said platform,openings in said platform, closing devices therefor, mechanism arranged to be engaged by said articles, whereby said closing devices are released, .and distributing-arms arranged to discharge said articles upon the car-floor; substantially as described.

. 5. A loading apparatus for cars comprising a movable frame or support, an elevated platform having openings, at conveyer moving along said platform, closing devices for said openings, mechanism actuated by the pigs or other articles, whereby said closing devices are released, and distributing-arms provided with mechanism whereby the pigs are distributed at various parts of the distributingarms; substantially-as described.

, 6. A loading apparatus for cars comprising a movable frame or support, an elevated plat- -'form having openings, a conveyer moving along said platform, closing devices for said openings, mechanism actuated by the pigs or other articles, whereby said closing devices are released, distributing-arms provided with openings, and closing devices therefor, and mechanism arranged to automatically release said closing devices in succession; substan- 2.5

in loading position, and arranged to be folded 35 against the side of the frame when not in use; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

RALPH BAGGALEY.

. Witnesses:

GEO. B. BLEMING, .JoHN MILLER. 

